Exhibitions at London's smaller galleries

Veronese and Sickert at Dulwich, Treasures of the Black Death at the Wallace Collection, and the Courtauld Wedding Chests

I had cause to skip through some of London's smaller museums this week, catching up on the shows I missed in the mad gallery month we have just had. As I wandered entranced through these world-class hoards, which in any other city on earth would constitute a leading national museum, I felt sensations of worthlessness rising up inside me, and spurts of nervousness. Why do we have all these things? What have we done to deserve them? How did we get them?

Excuse the existentialism, but I have just been staring at a cut-up Veronese altarpiece at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, and the spectacle has affected my equilibrium. This was once a stunning altarpiece, the largest in Lendinara, near Venice. Then, in the 18th century, some Italian lunatic with a saw decided to cut it in into smaller pieces that were easier to sell. Dulwich has a part. Ottawa another.